Sweet Rice

Sweet Rice is a short story by Aamer Hussein, a well-regarded Pakistani-British

author known for his lyrical prose and exploration of memory, identity, and
diaspora. Hussein's works often engage with themes of displacement, loss, and
cultural hybridity, and Sweet Rice is no exception.
Summary & Analysis
Sweet Rice, a delicate and aromatic lyrical prose from Aamer Hussein’s short
story collection The Other Salt, tells the tale of Shireen. Shireen, once a doctor in
Karachi, now resides as a housewife in London with her husband and son. The
central idea of the story revolves around Shireen’s tumultuous struggle to find a
new purpose and lease of life in a foreign place. The story reveals her experience as
a diaspora in a foreign country and also focuses on her nostalgia and longing for
her native country and culture. She wishes to stay connected with her native
culture even after having come thousands of miles away from her motherland.
Sweet Rice can be treated as a sort of bildungsroman because it focuses on the
moral and psychological growth of its protagonist. As the plot moves forward
Shireen becomes more and more aware of her weaknesses. By the end of the story,
she transforms from an alienated and subjugated woman to a self-aware woman
who knows what she wants. The plot of the story can be divided into three parts.
In the first part, she is portrayed as an alienated and discontented woman at a
foreign place which she describes as “an impossibly difficult city, where
even a powerfully-situated husband does not guarantee a work permit
or a job”. The second part focuses on Shireen’s identity crisis and quest for her
identity. She is out of place in the alien soil, and having spent all her years tending
and satisfying the demands of her matrimony and motherhood, she now feels a
need to search for her lost identity. And the final part of the story focuses on the
growth of Shireen’s character and self-fulfilment which represents the culmination
of her emotional journey from an agitated and confused woman to a self-aware
woman. She finds salvation in editing and publishing the Naimatkhaneh - an old
cookery book, compiled in 1911. Moreover, the flat characters, Shireen’s husband
and her son, are given element and substance through Shireen’s narration and it is
deliberate enough to keep the story revolving around Shireen, and not meandering
around the other characters who are
only minor part of the story. All we get about the other characters are the
borrowed ideas from Shireen and that’s enough to feel the story.
The most significant themes of the story are alienation, lost identity and lost
tradition, nostalgia, and woman empowerment. Shireen’s sense of alienation is
evident in her loss of connection between her inner world and the world around
her. She feels isolated and estranged in London. Her lack of self-awareness is
also associated with her alienation from her native culture. Her story reveals that
the more a person tries to fit into a foreign culture, the more he loses his essence.
Shireen has also denied herself every opportunity to emerge as a self-conscious
person by going away from her native culture. Her estranged married life has
also created a void in herself. The sense of alienation and isolation is evident in all
of her dull and monotonous activities. She feels remorse over having to sacrifice
her professional career for her marital life. She tried her best to excel in her
domestic life but “even her best was never good enough for Jamil's
Libran discernment”. Even her seven-year-old son, Timur, is also growing
away from her. And her husband always negates any prospect of Shireen’s career
as a doctor. “She didn't know whether to be insulted at his negation of
her profession or flattered by his inclusion of her in his bracket.”
Lost identity with lost tradition is an important theme of the story. A person’s
identity is crucially dependent on his culture and tradition. One’s culture and
tradition act as a compass for one’s activities and experiences in life which in turn
shape one’s personality. Culture gives a sense of belonging and a perspective to see
the world to a person. It makes a person realize that he is not living in a vacuum
and that he is a part of a shared history which shapes his identity. A person needs
to cling to his culture to support the shaking foundations of his existence. Shireen
goes through an identity crisis because her connection with her native culture is
not strong enough to support her native identity. That is why she is unable to
achieve self-fulfilment. She also expresses remorse over having her son brought up
in a foreign culture,
“And this son of mine is his father's child, an English child, who
prefers dubiously prepared hamburgers and chips fried in the greasy
remains of god knows what forbidden animal to his mother's
wholesome cooking,”.
Moreover, the colonial subjugation of minds is a very significant theme of the
story. It refers to controlling the thought process of people by instilling foreign
ideas and values in their minds as “better” and “superior” to their native values.
Shireen regrets submitting to the modern wave of thinking and neglecting her
cultural heritage. Acknowledging one’s native culture enables one to break the
shackles of a colonized mindset and live in a foreign country on one’s terms.
Shireen’s father was from Multan but her mother’s family had migrated from the
Northern province. Despite having abandoned their native land, her mother’s
family “retained the gentle gestures, the sweet tongues and the richly
aromatic cooking of another era, another land”. Shireen feels a deep sense
of nostalgia for her cultural roots and wants to connect to her native culture again.
And that connection comes in the form of a food item called “Sweet rice”. Shireen
calls it an “uncharacteristically flamboyant” gesture, “a celebration of her
home”, and a “defiant tradition” as it connects her with her tradition. The
journal “Sweet Rice” written by Muhammadi Begum provides her with a way to
self-fulfilment. Shireen still takes pride in her lost tradition and “her vanity, the
vanity of a good daughter, rich in the dowry of a thousand recipes
tested and proved,” forbids her from following any recipe book while cooking.
Hussein shows how a serendipitous finding becomes a source of empowerment
and self-fulfilment for Shireen. Shireen was once a doctor in Karachi, who made
her living and earned her respect but is now reduced to a posh banker’s wife in
London. One who throws dinner parties and hosts conversational evenings for her
husband’s wealthy friends and colleagues. She is irritated to live cheek by jowl
with these people who become the routine in her nondescript life. She finds ways
to fill her days. For an upcoming dinner night, she plans on digging into her roots
by making a traditional recipe, ‘Sweet Rice’. Shireen decides to make sweet rice for
Jamil’s guests because she believes this food item serves as her signature dish. It
was a speciality of her grandmother which the latter had named after Shireen. It
serves as a new goal for Shireen to assert her existence before her misogynist
husband. She goes through old books which give her a glimpse of her lost
childhood and tradition. Along with a host of ancient objects of sentimental value,
she finds her lost treasure which takes her to places surrendered. Shireen gets
engulfed in nostalgia. “Don’t look back and above all don’t smell or sniff,
it only takes you to places surrendered…”
Hussein has incorporated a story within the story which brings a change in
Shireen’s life. Shireen draws strength from the story of Muhammadi Begum.
Muhammadi Begum herself lived a fulfilling life by choosing her destiny. Hussein
breaks the stereotypes of religious scholars through the character of Muhammadi
Begum’s husband, Mumtaz Ali. Mumtaz Ali is a religious scholar as well as a
fighter for women's rights. He helps his wife recognize her talent. Hussein
describes Mumtaz as
“a radical religious scholar, --- a fighter for the rights of women to
choose their destinies, to emerge into the light of education and the
dignity of unveiling, to marry and to divorce whom they chose, to walk
and work in the world as men's equals”.
Whereas Jamil is a modern man he subjugates his wife. Shireen draws strength
and confidence through Muhammadi Begum which becomes the source of her
empowerment, and the re-kindling of her hibernating empowerment. One
woman’s empowered state becomes the stimulation for the other to start living
and stop complaining. Shireen’s struggle comes undone with the finding of
Naimatkhana. Hope sizzles, and for the first time, living in an alien land hoarding
a non-entity crown stings a little less. Sweet Rice becomes a turning point and
Shireen’s plan on reinventing herself tells a story of women’s triumph over
patriarchy and social norms.
In a nutshell, Sweet Rice not only unfolds Shireen’s luxurious yet mundane
happenings but also propels a message. Reinvention stays unseen in the matters
of empowerment and to empower oneself, sometimes reinvention is necessary and
should be grabbed from all corners. Through Shireen’s tale, the readers get a new
outlook towards empowerment. Empowerment not only means enabling oneself to
rejoin the workforce breaking barriers or glass ceilings or even talking and
endorsing feminism in every step, but also reinventing oneself and working with
focus towards that chosen path. Finding one’s second-best skill and working hard
in that direction is reinvention. Exploring something which is not known to one or
falls under one’s comfort zone, yet having the zeal to learn and unlearn is
reinvention.
Symbolism
1. Sweet Rice (Zarda)
o The dish of zarda symbolizes familial bonds, cultural heritage, and the
comfort of tradition. It serves as a metaphor for the nurturing qualities
of the narrator's mother and the warmth of home. The making of the
sweet rice becomes a ritual that connects past to present, and it is
through this act that the narrator can process his feelings of love, loss,
and nostalgia.
2. Food as Memory
o Like many of Aamer Hussein’s stories, food acts as a conduit for
memory in Sweet Rice. The sensory experience of cooking and eating
allows the narrator to reconnect with his past, particularly his mother.
In this way, food becomes more than just sustenance; it embodies
memory, identity, and history.
3. The Mother
o The narrator's mother, though a somewhat silent and background
figure, symbolizes maternal care, continuity, and the quiet sacrifices of
women in family life. Her presence is felt deeply in the act of preparing
zarda, which becomes a way for the narrator to reconnect with her and
the emotional warmth she represents.

Themes
The short story Sweet Rice by Aamer Hussein is rich with themes that delve into
memory, cultural identity, family dynamics, and the emotional significance of
food. Here’s a breakdown of its central themes:
1. Memory and Nostalgia
• Connection to the Past: The story’s central focus on the preparation of
zarda (sweet rice) evokes memories of the narrator’s mother and childhood.
Through the act of cooking, the narrator reconnects with his memories,
using the dish as a sensory trigger for remembering the past.
• Longing for Lost Times: The narrator’s reflections on his mother, and
the warmth she represented, highlight the bittersweet nature of nostalgia.
The preparation of the sweet rice becomes a symbol of trying to hold onto
something that has passed, echoing a sense of loss and yearning for a time
that can no longer be relieved.
2. Cultural Identity and Diaspora
• Food as a Symbol of Cultural Roots: The making of zarda represents
the narrator’s connection to his cultural heritage, even while living away
from his homeland. For many people in the diaspora, food serves as a vital
link to their origins, embodying traditions and rituals passed down through
generations.
• Maintaining Identity in Exile: The theme of diaspora is subtle but
present. By preparing traditional dishes like zarda, the narrator attempts to
retain a sense of identity and continuity in a foreign land, using food as a
way to bridge the gap between the present and the homeland left behind.
3. The Role of Family and Maternal Love
• Maternal Influence: The narrator’s mother, though somewhat silent in
the story, represents warmth, care, and cultural continuity. The mother’s
presence, expressed through the act of making zarda, symbolizes the
nurturing aspect of motherhood and the emotional bonds shared through
family traditions.
• Quiet Sacrifices: The mother’s role in the family and her relationship with
the narrator may also reflect the quiet sacrifices women make, often in the
background of family life. The ritual of cooking becomes her lasting legacy,
showing how familial roles persist through simple but significant acts.
4. Food as a Conduit for Emotion and Tradition
• Sensory Memories: Food, particularly in this story, serves as a powerful
trigger for memory and emotion. The preparation of sweet rice not only
evokes the narrator’s recollections of his mother but also becomes a way to
process feelings of loss, love, and nostalgia.
• Symbol of Continuity: Zarda embodies cultural continuity, showing how
food serves as a lasting tradition that connects generations. The act of
preparing traditional dishes links the present to the past, preserving family
rituals even in the face of change.
5. Loss and Longing
• Personal and Emotional Loss: The narrator’s reflection on the loss of
his mother adds a layer of melancholy to the story. The sweet rice becomes a
symbol of both the warmth and the absence left behind, as the narrator
grapples with the emotional impact of her death.
• Transience of Time: The story touches on the ephemeral nature of time
and relationships. The act of cooking zarda symbolizes the narrator’s
attempt to hold onto memories that are slowly fading, reflecting a broader
human desire to preserve moments that are slipping away.
 Food Imagery in Sweet Rice.
Food serves as a central metaphor for the lost culture and tradition in Aamer
Hussein’s Sweet Rice. There is a pervasive and poetic web of food images in the
short story. The protagonist of the story is thousands of miles away from her
native land and feels a deep sense of nostalgia for her lost tradition. The food
items from her native land keep Shireen connected with her cultural roots. Shireen
was once a doctor in Karachi, who made her living and earned her respect but is
now reduced to a posh banker’s wife in London. One who throws dinner parties
and hosts conversational evenings for her husband’s wealthy friends and
colleagues. She is irritated to live cheek by jowl with these people who become the
routine in her nondescript life. She finds ways to fill her days.
Hussein emphasizes the monotonous activities of Shireen and how she tries to
find purpose in her life. Shireen hates eating alone and loves to invite her close
friends to her home and persists in cooking “the dishes she loved like spinach
with meat or potatoes, oil-rich courgettes and aubergines, rich buttery
slices of bread and dry, fragrant pea-speckled rice tinted yellow” by
going against the modern dietary prescriptions. These dishes serve as a metaphor
for the kind of life and culture that Shireen has left behind in Karachi and now
misses.
Shireen feels a deep sense of nostalgia for her cultural roots and wants to connect
to her native culture again. And that connection comes in the form of a food item
called “Sweet rice”. Shireen calls it her “defiant tradition” as it connects her
with her tradition. The journal “Sweet Rice” written by Muhammadi Begum
provides her with a way to self-fulfilment. Shireen still takes pride in her lost
tradition and “her vanity, the vanity of a good daughter, rich in the
dowry of a thousand recipes tested and proved,” forbids her from
following any recipe book while cooking. Hussein uses vibrant and sensory
stimulations to invoke the image of sweet rice in the reader’s mind. He describes
the rice as “something lush and golden orange, laden with succulent
pieces of chicken and ripe with the subtle and suggestive perfume of
fruit”. The “lush and golden orange” colours represent the vibrancy of
Pakistani culture and invoke the sense of sight of the reader. And “suggestive
perfume of fruit” caters to the olfactory senses of the reader, and the
“succulent pieces of chicken” stimulate the reader’s sense of taste.
Hussein also offers his readers a variety of food images which are exclusive to the
South Asian culture. When Shireen opens Muhammadi Begum’s journal, along
with a host of ancient objects of sentimental value, she finds her lost treasure
which takes her to places surrendered. Shireen gets engulfed in nostalgia. “Don’t
look back and above all don’t smell or sniff, it only takes you to places
surrendered…” The reader comes across the images of food ingredients such as
“Chicken or lamb, rice, clarified butter, onions, coriander, garlic, salt,
cumin, black pepper, cloves, cardamom and sugar”. Shireen realizes that
these ingredients are so easy to find in a place like London which has no cuisine of
its own to boast of. Thus, Hussein has incorporated vibrant, fragrant, and rich
food imagery which has turned his short story into delicate and aromatic lyrical
prose.
Writing Style and Tone
Aamer Hussein’s writing in Sweet Rice is known for its delicate, almost poetic
quality. His prose often evokes a strong sense of atmosphere, using vivid imagery
to paint emotional landscapes. Hussein’s storytelling is marked by its subtlety;
rather than dramatic plot points, his work is more interested in the internal lives
of his characters and the small, poignant moments that define relationships. The
tone of Sweet Rice is nostalgic, reflective, and quietly melancholic, capturing the
fleeting nature of time and the enduring power of memory.
Conclusion
Sweet Rice is a beautifully crafted story that speaks to the complexities of memory,
diaspora, and identity. Through the lens of food, Aamer Hussein explores how
cultural traditions and personal memories are intertwined, providing continuity in
the face of displacement and loss. The story is a delicate meditation on love,
family, and the quiet rituals that bind us to our past, even as we navigate the
uncertainties of the present.